More high grade uranium discovered in the Central district

Brian Benza
Staff Writer | Friday December 10, 2010 00:00

According to a statement released by the company this week, exploration teams have been following up on uranium anomalism over a very large area of Southern Pans that lies approximately 150 kilometres northwest of another A-Cap project in Letlhakane.

Says the statement: 'Initial work is highly promising with multiple geophysical anomalies sampled. New discovery zone is in addition to the Letlhakane Uranium Project where A-Cap has established a Global Mineral Resource of 463 Mt @ 154ppm U3O8 for 157M lbs of uranium.'

The company also says a resource update for the Letlhakane Mineral Resource is planned early in 2011 and that its exploration and development plans will continue due to a recently completed institutional placement of US$9.5 million.

Says Managing Director, Andrew Tunks: 'Whilst the results of the recent exploration are at a very early stage, this is an important discovery for A-Cap of the potential for a second mineralised system located within our key tenement area. 

'The Board is extremely encouraged by this as this new area could add future exploration upside whilst we continue to progress the development of Letlhakane to production. 

'A-Cap fully intends to continue to explore its tenure in Botswana in the same aggressive manner that resulted in the definition of the Letlhakane Deposit.

'Given we have recently secured a $9million institutional fundraising, we are well positioned to be able to drive forward with a two-pronged approach in terms of our development of the Letlhakane Project and exploration of the Southern Pans area.

'With the SPP sent to shareholders last week, it is an excellent opportunity for those shareholders who have supported us in our growth phase to top up on their investment as the company moves towards a new era of development and production.'

A Shareholder Share Purchase Plan (SPP) has been announced at the same price offered to institutional investors in the capital raising.

Botswana's first-ever uranium mine is likely to start full production in two years' time as tenders will soon be called for a feasibility study into a proposed P1.3 billion project in Letlhakane.

The mine is projected to have an exploration target in excess of 200 million pounds of uranium. According to analysts, Botswana has the potential to become a major uranium producer and even rival neighbouring Namibia in the coming years.

With world net electricity consumption expected to nearly double over the next two decades, some 30 new nuclear reactors are being built, the fastest expansion being in Asia, especially in China and India.

Besides A-Cap, another Australian company, Impact Minerals, has made some discoveries of uranium in the Shoshong area as well as in Letlhakane.

Impact and A-Cap expect the number of nuclear reactors under construction to increase significantly in the next three to five years as more economies shift to nuclear energy.

Interest in uranium as a source of energy has risen partly because nuclear plants are environmentally friendly as they emit a tiny fraction of carbon dioxide that causes global warming.

Uranium has been used to produce nuclear weapons for more than 50 years and electricity for more than 40 years.